Treating your guests to a wonderful evening to celebrate your wedding nuptials is the epitome of a classy, sophisticated and elegant wedding.  You can use a few easy touches to make your wedding ceremony and reception elegant, impressing your guests and creating a night to remember. 

Elegant Invitations

The first impression your guests get of your wedding is from the invitations. You can set the mood for an elegant, upscale wedding by simply choosing the right wedding invitations. First, choose a simple palette for your wedding - such as black and white or espresso and robin's egg blue - and select wedding invitations based on these colors. Simple invitations with clean lines will make more of a sophisticated impression than brightly colored invitations with large lettering and whimsical designs.

An Elegant Ceremony

An elegant wedding ceremony can contain a number of things. If your wedding is outdoors, you can print the ceremony program on simple yet stunning paper fans to allow your guests to keep cool or print the programs on a keepsake card for placement in a scrapbook. When giving your guests something to toss at you and your husband during the recession, flower petals encased in paper cones are more elegant than bubbles. If you do choose to use bubbles, wrap with chiffon instead of tulle. Have ushers pass these out to guests before the ceremony takes place.

Top Notch Cuisine

Having a sophisticated dinner menu is possible one of the easiest but unfortunately costly ways to make your wedding ceremony and reception elegant.  You don't have to have a sit down dinner, however, to make a great impression upon your guests.  You can serve elegant hors d'oeuvres such as curry chicken satay with almonds or chilled chicken spring rolls with sweet soy reduction.  You can also consider serving just a few stations, such as an International cheese station, a tapas station or an antipasto station.

Elegant Wedding Alcohol

While having an open bar at your wedding that serves the finest liquors and drinks is one of the more sophisticated options for a wedding reception, it may not be in your budget.  You can still present stylish and refined alcohol by simply serving imported and fine beers and wine.  Alternatively, you can also just offer a few liquor based drinks of your choice on the menu.

After Dinner Dancing

A live band or even a string quartet is an excellent, elegant addition to a wedding ceremony.  A deejay is a fine choice as well, depending on the type of music played.  Classics are always in order at a wedding reception but you might want to avoid "YMCA."

Having an elegant wedding is all about treating your guests to a top notch, well planned out ceremony, fine cuisine and alcohol and a great time had overall.  They're there to celebrate with you!  If your budget won't allow for the most exquisite of cuisine or the finest wedding details, take some time to get creative and really think about how you can have an elegant wedding ceremony and reception without spending a lot of money.  Trust your instincts and the token rule for elegant and sophisticated weddings is "less is more!"  You'll be surprised at how much you can truly come up with if you just put your mind to it.